Comparison of nitrogen accumulation and nitrogen utilization efficiency between elite inbred lines and the landraces of maize

Abstract

Inadequate supply of nitrogen (N) fertilizers results in lower N use efficiency (NUE) and higher N losses which cause environmental deterioration, such as nitrate pollution of groundwater and emission of nitrous greenhouse gases. One way to increase NUE is to use N-efficient cultivars, which grow better under reduced N supplies. Both elite inbred lines and landraces are the basis for hybrid breeding in maize. While inbred lines are mostly selected from high N input conditions, landraces are historically distributed in poor soils with low N availability. Therefore, some potential NUE-related traits conserved in the landraces may have been lost during modern breeding processes. In the present study, the N accumulation and utilization efficiency of 15 elite inbred lines and four landraces of maize were compared at low (LN) and high N (HN) input conditions. In general, the grain yields of the inbred lines and the landraces were similar at both N rates. However, nitrogen accumulation ability in landraces was much higher than that of the inbred lines. The high N accumulation of landraces was closely related to their higher biomass, indicating that growth potential is the main driving force for N accumulation. Nevertheless, N utilization efficiency (grain produced per unit N absorbed) of the landraces was significantly lower than that in inbred lines. Correspondingly, assimilation allocation for grain formation, as indicated by the harvest index, was much lower in landraces than in inbred lines. The higher growth potential, and hence, the ability of N accumulation in landraces may be a valuable trait in breeding programs aiming to further improve N use efficiency.     

玉米衰老相关基因在2个杂交种及其亲本中的表达分析

以玉米杂交种先玉335和郑单958及其亲本为材料,分析了叶片和子粒在授粉后不同时期衰老相关基因表达的变化规律。结果表明,2个叶绿体绿色保持基因SGR1和SGR2在杂交种先玉335和郑单958及其亲本穗三叶中的表达随着授粉后时间的延长整体上呈现上升趋势,但是先玉335的基因表达量要高于郑单958。叶片衰老诱导基因SAP1在叶片发育过程中上调表达,SAP2则表现出先增后减的趋势。以不同生长发育时期的子粒为材料,分析了子粒发育中衰老相关基因SAG1,SAG2和SAG3的表达规律。结果表明,SAG1基因的表达水平随着子粒的发育而降低,而SAG2和SAG3基因则在子粒的成熟过程中表达量呈现上升的趋势。     

Mechanical transmission of maize rayado fino marafivirus (MRFV) to maize and barley by means of the vascular puncture technique

Maize rayado fino marafivirus (MRFV) was mechanically transmitted to kernels of three Costa Rican maize cultivars by the vascular puncture technique. A transmission rate of up to 43.2% was obtained for cultivar HC-57. The rate of MRFV transmission to maize was possibly affected by the morphology of the kernel, which may influence physical access to the vascular tissue after water imbibition. Transmission to maize was confirmed by western blot and immunosorbent electron microscopy. By slight modifications of the procedure, MRFV was also transmitted to barley. This is the first report of MRFV infecting a species outside the supertribe Andropogonodae. Virus infection and replication in barley were confirmed by RT-PCR detection of MRFV RNA and by detection of the virus by ELISA.     

盐碱地上耐盐小麦复播玉米综合效益的研究

在盐渍化地上直接种植耐盐小麦后复播玉米，既是作为快速改良盐碱地的技术措施之一，又是充分利用土地、光热、水分等自然资源的重要手段。在北疆条件下，本研究的结果为：土壤盐分（0－50cm)含量为1．07％的盐碱地上种植耐盐冬小麦并复播玉米，比一般的种植方式增产67％－152％，土壤当年的脱盐率达84％以上，光热资源和水资源的利用较高。这种种植方式有较高的生物产量，增加了农田的载畜量。同时既提高了经济效益，又有利于培肥土壤、改善土壤结构。     

沈阳地区玉米光热水生产潜力研究

在玉米光热生产潜力的基础上，进一步讨论沈阳地区水分对玉米生产潜力发挥的限制作用，结果表明：水分的限制率为１８．５％，使玉米经济产量降低３９５．０１ｋｇ／ｍｕ。     

玉米雄性不育突变体mi-ms-3的遗传分析及分子鉴定

Maize is one of the best crops in the utilization of heterosis. Male sterile lines are important germplasms for the hybrids production. A male sterile mutant named mi-ms-3 was obtained by screening in a mutator insertion library. The number of male anthers in tassel decreased and not exserted. There were few anthers with only two pollen sacs in the mutant tassels, and some of the anthers were degenerated to membranous and formed filaments at their ends. Although pollens in the anthers could be stained by I₂-KI, pollen shedding was abnormal and the number of pollen grains decreased. The number of silks in the ear of the mutant increased, and there was a sterile grain on both sides of the maturated kernel. Fertility of F₁ plants, which were obtained by hybridization between mi-ms-3 and maize inbred Mo17, was normal. Genetic analysis of F₂ population showed that the mutant phenotype was controlled by a recessive gene. The candidate gene was preliminarily mapped on the long arm of chromosome 3 by BSA and it was located between a SSR marker and an Indel marker with a distance of 1.5 cM. There are 21 candidate genes in this region. It was finally found that the insertion mutation of Mu transposon occurred at 30 bp upstream of the coding region of zm00001d042618 (zmm16) by transponson tagging and sequencing analysis. The results showed that mi-ms-3 was a new allele of sts1, which caused by a single base mutation in the coding region. RT-PCR analysis indicated that the expression of zmm16 in the mutant was decreased. The identification of the new allelic mutant of sts1 in this study would provide new materials for the study of flower development and hybrid seed production.     

苯丙氨酸解氨酶活性与玉米对纹枯病抗性的关系

苯丙氨酸解氨酶活性变化在玉米抗、感品种和不同生育期与叶鞘位之间存在差异。在玉米(川单10号)的不同生育期和叶鞘位中,随生育期的发展和叶鞘位的下降,苯丙氨酸解氨酶活性降低。在受纹枯病菌侵染后,抗病品种(R15)的苯丙氨酸解氨酶活性增加的速度和程度明显高于感病品种(K09)。这一结果表明,玉米对纹枯病的阶段抗性变化以及品种抗性与苯丙氨酸解氨酶活性变化相关。